


The Bet

by ithasthegay_fanfiction



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Klangst....sort of, Lance (Voltron) Speaks Spanish, Lance (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Mild Language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-29 22:46:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10146356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ithasthegay_fanfiction/pseuds/ithasthegay_fanfiction
Summary: "This was Lance’s best and worst idea yet, this fake dating thing he and Keith were doing. See, it was all part of a bet between the two paladins. What bet? It wasn’t as simple as that, this wasn’t some simple bet, it had many working parts, pieces that fit together to make something entirely new. This was how it all started."





	

**Author's Note:**

> Cross posted from my tumblr (it-has-the-gay-fanfiction), come see me :)
> 
> Originally meant for the klance secret santa.
> 
> Translations at the end  
> Sorry if any Spanish is wrong or weird, but I did have this beta'd specifically for Spanish.

This was Lance’s best and worst idea yet, this fake dating thing he and Keith were doing. See, it was all part of a bet between the two paladins. What bet? It wasn’t as simple as that, this wasn’t some simple bet, it had many working parts, pieces that fit together to make something entirely new. This was how it all started.

* * *

“I bet I can hold someone’s hand longer than you.” Lance said out of the blue. Keith looked up from the knife he was cleaning, “Okay? What does that have to do with anything?” Lance paused to think of an excuse, he couldn’t really flat out say to Keith  _ “Hey! I think you’re cute and I really want to hold your hand, let’s do it!” _ If he ever dared to say that to Keith, he was sure the other paladin would knock him flat on his ass. “Um… I'm just thinking of things that I'm better than you at. For example, anything involving human interaction, whether romantically or platonically, I'm better at it than you.” Lance smirked, confident that Keith wouldn't see through his half-lie. Keith rolled his eyes, “Why should I care that you’re better at something than I am? It doesn’t affect me in the slightest, we’ve all got things that we’re better at… though some are more useful than others.”  Keith muttered the last part under his breath, but apparently he had never been taught to properly whisper because Lance could hear every word. 

“That hurts me man, hurts me right here,” Lance tapped his chest, “human interaction, or any kind of social interaction is important, especially to us. We’re paladins of Voltron, the universe is counting on us and that requires talking to people sometimes.” He could tell by the look on Keith’s face that he had appealed to the other paladin’s sense of logic. “...So then why bet you can hold someone’s hand longer than I can? How is that going to help either of us get any better at social interactions?” Keith questioned after a long pause. Lance rubbed the back of his neck, “Good question… You really want to practice interacting with people, relatively speaking?” His question was met with a sincere nod. “Go out with me then.” “What?! How is that going to help me?” Keith screeched, his face beat red, knife extended as though Lance was physically trying to attack him. Lance held up his hands to placate the other paladin, “You want to learn how to interact with people right?” At the question Keith nodded and lowered his knife, though his face still resembled his lion. “What better way to learn than to actually do it? I’m not saying we  _ actually _ have to go out, all I’m saying is I think we should fake date to help you get better at interacting with others. It’s a safe way for you to learn how  **_not_ ** to piss people off. Plus…” Lance grinned mischievously, “it would be a great prank to play on the others.” 

Keith cocked his head to the side, “Prank?” “Yeah, to get back at everyone.” Lance responded, the grin on his face growing bigger by the second.  _ This is going to work out perfectly. I’ll get a trial run at dating Keith, test the waters, who knows… _ “Why would we want to get back at them? They haven’t done anything.” Keith asked, interrupting Lance’s train of thought. “I thought you would have figured it out by now…” He was dumbfounded that Keith hadn’t realized the sudden increase of solo missions with just the two of them, or how when they walked into a room the other paladins would immediately stop talking, or how Shiro and Allura kept pairing them up to spar. “Figured what out? Lance just spit it out!” Keith punched his shoulder, and none too lightly he might add. “Ouch! That actually hurt you jerk.” Lance stuck his tongue out at Keith as he rubbed his bruising shoulder. “The others,” he started before Keith could hit him again, “have been trying to get us together, I’m pretty sure. Before you shut down, let me explain.” Lance hurriedly said when he saw the look on Keith’s face, a sure sign that he was about to meltdown or shutdown. “Haven’t you noticed that we’ve been put on more missions together, or the team stops talking when we walk into a room, or even the sparring? I think they’ve been trying to get us together, I mean why else would they go through all this effort to get the two of us alone together?” 

Keith bit his lip,  _ Oh lord what this boy does to me _ , before he finally spoke, “I’ll fake date you on one condition.” “And what would that be, my dear mullet?” Lance grinned. “Let’s make it a bet. The first one to slip up, to expose the relationship as fake to the other paladins, has to do whatever the other asks for an entire day cycle.” Keith had a determined look on his face. Lance raised an eyebrow, “You sure that’s a bet you’re willing to make, mullet? Because you did say  _ anything _ … and well… that could end very awkwardly for both of us.” The other paladin nodded, “I’m sure, Lance. With stakes this high, there’s no way I’m losing. This is the only way I can learn, when I fear for my life.” He joked, elbowing Lance in the side. “You loser,” Lance smiled, “So, Keith Kogane, will you be my fake boyfriend?” He held out his hand for Keith to shake. “You’re on.” Keith shook Lance’s hand, and with that simple action, their fates were sealed.

* * *

“We should go over boundaries.” Lance leaned against the wall in his bunk. He and Keith had moved to Lance’s room after they made their agreement so they could go over the logistics without fear the others would overhear them. “What do you mean by boundaries?” Keith looked over at Lance from his place on the bed beside him. “Well… if we’re fake dating, that will require some level of touching and intimacy. So like kissing…” Lance trailed off, a bright blush on his face. The other man’s face burned just as bright as his own, “I-I… yeah. All of it… let’s do it.” He mumbled. “Wait, seriously?” Lance’s head shot up and he stared at the squirming paladin on his bed. Keith nodded, “It’s just a learning experience right?” A sharp pang of something like disappointment shot Lance through the heart. “Y-yeah, just a learning experience.” “Then might as well get all the experience I can.” Keith looked up at Lance through his bangs. Lance suddenly found it very hard to keep his grip on English. Just the sight of Keith looking so...so… he didn’t want to use the word adorable, but the dim lighting in the room softened all of Keith’s edges, his violet-grey eyes were blown wide, and he just looked so small sitting there that all Lance wanted to do was wrap him in a hug and never let him go. “Tu serás la muerte de mí, te lo juro.” *he said softly to Keith. 

Keith gave him a confused look, “English please?” Lance shook his head, “Lo siento,”* he slapped the side of his head, “Sorry… So my next question, have you ever kissed someone before? This is vital information I swear.” 

Keith shook his head with a slight frown on his face, “I’ve never had a chance or reason to k-kiss someone.” “Do you want to?” Lance asked quietly, a strange look on his face. “W-what?” Keith stuttered out. “Do you want to? Kiss I mean.” Lance had never felt so scared in his whole life.  _ Good going, McClain! If you thought he would kick your ass for asking to hold hands…? That doesn't even hold a candle to this! Get ready to get your ass kicked by your fake boyfriend.  _ He felt the bed shift.  _ Here it comes.  _ He tensed up, ready to block the blow. “I'm not going to hurt you, Lance.” Keith said softly. Lance looked over at him and his breath caught. Keith crawled onto Lance’s lap and placed a hand on his cheek, “Am I doing this right?” He questioned. “Y-yeah.” Lance breathed out. Keith seemed hesitant and unsure of himself,  _ oh right, he has no idea what he’s doing. _

Lance brought a hand up and curled it into the hair at the base of Keith’s neck, “Are you sure you want to do this? I don’t want to force you into anything you don’t want to do.” He whispered, afraid that if he spoke any louder he’d break the moment. “Just shut up and kiss me, McClain.” Keith demanded. Lance needed no further prompting. Using the hand tangled in Keith’s hair, he guided the other man’s lips to his.  _ Keith wasn’t lying, he has no clue what he’s doing.  _ Keith was frozen, his lips completely still on Lance’s, his body tense. Lance pulled away, “Relax a little bit. You just need to go with the flow, don’t try to force it.” Keith nodded and brought his lips back to Lance’s.  _ That’s better. _ Keith was a little sloppy and kept trying to move his lips too much in no real rhythm.  _ I lied, this boy needs help. _ Lance tugged on Keith’s hair to try to slow him down. Keith let out a noise that was way to obscene for a first kiss. They broke away panting, Keith’s face was more than a little red. “Did that noise just come out of my mouth?!” He squeaked covering his face in embarrassment. Lance laughed lightly, though he was also shocked that Keith made that sound.  _ Guess he likes his hair pulled...oh my god shut up brain! _

“I think it did.” Lance snorted, “It’s okay though! So don’t freak out, no one has to know.” Keith nodded and removed his hands from his face, “Was that okay? Did I do it right?” He asked hesitantly. “I think you need some practice, but it wasn’t bad for your first kiss.” Lance grinned and slipped his hand out of Keith’s hair. “Well, we’ll have plenty of time for that because there is no way I’m losing this bet,” Keith slipped off of Lance’s lap and stood, “let’s get going. I think it’s about dinner time, and I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.” Lance stood and slipped his hand around Keith’s and linked their fingers, “This okay?” The other nodded and they left the room to head to the kitchen.

* * *

“You were right.” Keith muttered to Lance before he shoveled some food goo into his mouth. Lance raised an eyebrow at the other paladin as he swished the food goo to the other side of his mouth, “I waash?” Keith gave him a confused look. Lance swallowed the food in his mouth and gave Keith a sheepish grin, “Sorry, mouth was full. What did you mean by ‘I was right’?” He asked, adding finger quotes around the last part. “Look at how smug they look,” Keith motioned subtly to the rest of the team with his spoon, “they wanted us to get together. This is going to be harder than I thought.” Lance grinned at the comment before scrutinizing the faces of his fellow paladins.  _ Keith was right, they do have smug looks on their faces.  _ “Alright, spit it out.” Lance said loudly, dropping his spoon back into his bowl. Hunk jumped, a guilty look on his face. Lance zeroed in on him, “Hunk, buddy. I know you guys were planning things and scheming behind our backs, so there’s no use lying to me.” Hunk screwed his face up, his eyes shifting to the others, “Okay, okay! I’m sorry guys, but I just can’t lie to him. We have been trying to get you two together for a while now. It’s hard to concentrate when you two are constantly flirting in the field or pining after each other during training. I love you man, I really do, but you really are as dense as one person can get.” 

Lance saw Keith shift uncomfortably beside him, “You all feel the same way?” Keith asked, directing his question to the others sitting at the table. A round of nods followed his question. “Why didn’t you say anything?” Keith stared at Shiro, throwing the question at him, slight hurt coloring his voice. Lance placed a hand on Keith’s knee hoping to calm him. He heard Keith suck in a breath before he calmed down a little. “We didn’t want to freak you out or cause a rift in the team. We did what we thought was the best.” Shiro replied cautiously, worried that he was going to cause Keith to meltdown. “You still should have said something instead of trying to play matchmaker behind our backs.” Keith gritted out. “I’m with Keith on this one. Instead of trying to force us together to stop all the flirting and pining, you could have talked to us. We are mature enough to know when to hold back on all that stuff and focus on the mission. I thought you trusted us more.” Lance frowned as he looked from person to person. “We do trust you!” Hunk all but shouted. “Hunk’s right, we do trust you guys. We just didn’t know how you two would take it is all. It was a calculated risk that we felt was better taken than left to chance.” Pidge butted in, finally looking up from their laptop to join the conversation. 

Lance watched as Keith’s expression darkened.  _ Oh no, he’s going to melt down, I need to get him out of here.  _ “Let’s go, Keith.” Lance tugged Keith up out of his seat and ushered him to the door. Before they left, he turned back and looked at Pidge, “You could have worded that differently.” He didn’t stay long enough to hear their response.

* * *

After that awkward reveal to the team, Lance and Keith had done everything they could think of to get back at them, kissing before and after missions, making out on the couch, touching each other all the time. Shiro had finally told them to dial it back, and while Lance didn’t really want to, he could see that they had made their point to the team. All that happened a month ago, well as close as Lance could guess was a month ago, and Lance and Keith had settled into their “relationship” quite nicely. 

_ It’s going to suck when this is over. Now that I’ve had a taste of what we could be, I don’t want to go back to being just me. Maybe I should start separating myself from Keith, separating him from me… _ Lance sighed and followed Keith off the castle ship. They had just landed at a trading post on a planet a remote region of the galaxy. Galran influence had yet to spread this far, so Coran and Allura had both agreed that this would be a safe spot to restock supplies. They were in desperate need for well… everything, so everyone was on restock duty.

Lance walked slightly ahead of Keith, trying to distance himself physically and emotionally from Keith. “Lance, what’s wrong?” Keith asked once he caught up with his “boyfriend”. “Nothing’s wrong. I just need some space, okay?” Lance replied harshly. Keith grabbed Lance’s arm and pulled him to a stop, “Seriously, what’s wrong? You’re not acting right, Lance.” Lance ripped his arm out of Keith’s grip,  _ Why am I doing this?  _ “I told you, I just need some space.” He growled and marched off, not waiting to hear a reply from Keith.  _ You’re doing this because it’s for the best. Keith doesn’t actually like you, better cut him out of your heart now or you’ll never be able to function without him again.  _

Lance looked down at the list in his hands as he entered the main operation of the trading post.  _ It’s kind of like a flea market.  _ He walked slowly so he could look at every stand he passed.  _ Man, I kind of regret storming off, I have no clue where to find any of this stuff or what half of it even is.  _ He sighed and stopped to wait for the rest of the paladins to catch up with him. “You lost, honey?” Someone whispered in his ear. Lance jumped and turned around, his hand around his bayard in case he was about to be ambushed. He relaxed his stance a little when he saw who  _ or should I say what _ just talked to him. “Uh… yeah I am a little lost,” Lance smirked, “lost in your eyes.” The girl, who looked a lot like Nyma,  _ should I be worried? Nah,  _ laughed. Lance perked up and gave her a flirtatious smile, “The name’s Lance,” he extended his hand, “and yeah, I really am a little lost.” The girl took his hand and smiled, “Hello Lance, my name is Maklu and I would be happy to show you around.” 

“Lance!” Keith called from somewhere behind him causing Lance to wince and drop Maklu’s hand. “Lance, buddy, what are you doing with um… her?” Hunk questioned. “A little flirting never hurt nobody.” Lance shrugged with a look of indifference on his face. “Seriously, Lance?! Can you stop thinking with your dick for one second and remember why we’re here.” Keith growled out, still pissed about Lance’s earlier actions. Lance narrowed his eyes, “I don’t have to take this from you! Who gave you the right to talk to me like that?” He hissed out through gritted teeth. Keith straightened his back and stared Lance right in the eyes, “I’m your boyfriend!”  _ This is for the best, Lance. Get a clean break, lose the bet, and be done with it. _ “No you’re not, you never were.” Lance replied with a hardened expression on his face. Keith took a step backwards like Lance had physically hit him. 

“You two go back to the ship. We will discuss this later.” Shiro ordered. When neither boy moved, he tried a different tactic, “Keith, Lance. I said get back to the ship. Now boys!” He yelled. Lance narrowed his eyes and turned on his heel to head back the way they came. He didn’t look behind him to see if Keith was following him, but he knew the other was there.  _ I’ll always know where he is. _

* * *

“So I guess you lost the bet.” Keith said quietly once they were inside the castle. “I guess I did.” Lance resisted the urge to look over at Keith. He knew that if he did, he would lose all semblance of self control.  _ I can’t keep using him like this, it’s not fair to Keith.  _ “That means I own your ass tomorrow.” Lance could practically hear the smirk in the other’s voice. Lance groaned and turned his head to hide the blush spreading down his neck, “I’m going to go hide in my room and relish my last few hours as a free man.” “Shiro said he wanted to talk to us, you better stay.” Keith grabbed onto his arm to stop him from leaving. Lance looked down, “Do you always do what Shiro wants?” “Not always!” Keith defended. “You see my point.” Lance freed his arm from Keith’s grip and continued his journey to his room.  _ Was this a good idea? _

* * *

Loud banging on his door woke Lance up the next morning. “Go away!” Lance shouted before rolling over and shoving his pillow over his head. “Not going to happen, sunshine! You owe me the day remember?” Keith shouted back, though his voice was slightly muffled by the door. Lance groaned and threw the pillow across the room when the banging resumed. He stalked over to the door and slammed his hand on the pad. The door slid open with a metallic hiss, revealing Keith dressed in his workout clothes. “Is this revenge for yesterday? Why do you want to torture me like this?” Lance whined. Keith chuckled, “Get dressed, you’re going to be my sparring partner for the day.” Lance narrowed his eyes and grumbled, but turned back into his room and grabbed his own pair of workout clothes. “Give me like five minutes, okay?” Lance snapped. He really wasn’t a morning person. Keith nodded his approval and Lance slipped into the bathroom to change. 

* * *

Lance grunted as he hit the mat for the  _ sixth, seventh?? _ time that morning. “You must be… really angry with me.” Lance wheezed out and looked up at Keith. Keith blinked in confusion as he pinned Lance’s hands above his head, “I’m not angry at you, Lance. You just really need to get better at hand-to-hand combat.” Keith smirked. “Whatever you say.” Lance bucked his hips to try to throw Keith off him. When that didn’t work, Lance locked his legs around Keith’s waist in a triangle choke and rolled them both. For the first time that day, Lance pinned Keith. “Who’s bad at hand-to-hand now?” He grinned and let Keith sit up. “Not bad.” Keith gave him a small smile, but he looked like he had something else to say. Lance sat in front of him, “Alright, spill.”

Keith looked up, “Spill?” “What’s going on with you? I really would have thought you would have made me do something infinitely more painful than sparring with you. What is it you  _ really _ want me to do for the bet?” Lance leaned forward and raised an eyebrow. Keith sighed, “I’m sorry.” “For what?” Lance sat back and leaned on his hands as he watched Keith. “I’m sorry for being such a jerk yesterday. I didn’t mean what I said, about you thinking with your dick… I was just jealous...and hurt.” Keith averted his eyes. “Jealous...why would you be jealous?” Lance asked, his confusion apparent on his face. Keith took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, “I was jealous because...because I like you and you were flirting with that girl.” “Wait what?” Lance’s eyes were as wide as saucers, the alien kind, and his heart was hammering. “I know what I want you to do for the bet.” Keith said suddenly, pulling Lance from his internal crisis. “Keith wait, back up.” Lance shook his hands trying to stop Keith and get some answers. “Lance, I want you to be my real boyfriend.” Keith spit out and clenched his eyes shut in fear. 

Lance froze, “You want me to be your boyfriend for real? Hold up, since when have you liked me?” Lance questioned before he crawled over to straddle Keith’s hips in order to get in the other’s face. “S-since before we started fake dating.” Keith stuttered out. Lance dropped down on Keith’s lap in shock, “Wait seriously? We could have been dating for real this whole time?! Man we really are stupid.” Lance slapped his face in annoyance at himself. “What do you mean, Lance?” Keith questioned, pulling Lance’s hand away from his face. “What I mean is what I said. We could have been dating for real this entire time. Here we were yelling at the others about communication when we could have used some ourselves,” Lance could tell Keith still didn’t get what he meant, “I like you, idiot. I have for a long time, I just never said anything because I always assumed that you would never like me back or give me more than a second’s thought.” Keith laughed and dropped his head to Lance’s shoulder, “You’re right, we really are stupid. You still haven’t answered my question, though.” Keith lifted his head to watch for Lance’s reaction. 

Lance smirked and slotted his lips against Keith’s. Keith made a sound of surprise before he dropped his hands to Lance’s waist and tugged him closer. Lance smiled into the kiss, breaking away to press his forehead against Keith’s, “Is that a good enough answer for you?” “That pretty much covers it, princess.” Keith smiled, his eyes shifting to catch every movement Lance made. Lance sighed happily and closed his eyes, pressing closer to Keith.  _ What did I do to deserve him? I must have done  _ something _ right in a past life…  _

**Author's Note:**

> Translations:  
> 1\. Tu serás la muerte de mí, te lo juro: You will be the death of me, I swear.  
> 2\. Lo siento: I'm sorry


End file.
